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“AITA For Reminding My Ex I’m Only Responsible For Our Children And Not All Of His Kids?”
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“AITA For Reminding My Ex I’m Only Responsible For Our Children And Not All Of His Kids?”

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After the emotional burden of divorce comes the equally hard task of figuring out how to manage what is left over. Property, assets and, of course, children. Some deadbeats feel like once the divorce papers are signed, their responsibilities end there. However, it takes a certain kind of person to think that an ex should also be in charge of children that aren’t even biologically theirs.

A woman vented her frustration at her ex-husband who had three kids with another woman and now wanted her to also babysit them. We reached out to the woman in the story via private message and will update the article when she gets back to us.

It’s not out of the ordinary to still help with childcare post divorce

Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels (not the actual photo)

But one woman put her foot down when her ex wanted her to babysit his kids

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Image credits: Fernanda De Freitas / pexels (not the actual photo)

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Image credits: Jep Gambardella / pexels (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Plus-Front-2690

It’s not clear why the woman even needed to get a second opinion

The first thing that might strike some readers is the fact that this woman felt the need to actually go online and ask “am I the [jerk] for not wanting to look after my ex-husband’s biological children?” as if it was ever a question. Generally, unless one is on very good terms with an ex partner and has already helped raise their kids, this is not something one is “supposed” to do.

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This might demonstrate the fact that the ex-husband has repeatedly tried to talk her into this. Indeed, it was very likely a “normal” dynamic in their relationship where she simply picked up all the domestic tasks that accrued throughout the day, to the point where both of them assume it’s her job. Fortunately, she does seem to be able to draw the line here, as childcare of even one child is a lot of work, let alone three additional ones.

It’s actually quite surprising that the ex-husband could not or would not grasp the fact that this sort of behavior is what caused the divorce in the first place. He seems to believe that the mother is in charge of all the work and while he has fun with his friends. It’s surprising that he wasn’t even embarrassed to constantly ask his wife to pick him up when visiting some friends.

The woman does state that he has perhaps gotten a bit better, trying to offload three entire children on a mother of two is classic deadbeat behavior masked with a smile. Offloading school supply costs to your ex-wife because you are too cheap to even take care of your own is just immature behavior, no two ways about it.

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Image credits: Karolina Kaboompics / pexels (not the actual photo)

The ex-husband’s behavior is textbook deadbeat

Telling one’s wife that she needs to be “part of the community” by helping him take care of his own kids is hilarious behavior when he seems to be retreating from said “community.” It is possible that he is immature enough to actually believe this, but more likely he is simply trying to manipulate her into picking up the mountain of slack he’s left behind.

As previously mentioned, the ex-wife already seemed a bit conflicted and wanted to ask the internet for advice. It does seem that the only tie keeping her close to him is the fact that their shared kids do enjoy his company, as she clarifies in the comments, some of which can be found below.

Ultimately, this is another tale of entitled partners thinking they can offload adult responsibilities to someone else because they don’t feel like doing their job as a parent, spouse or partner. Childcare and immaturity do not mix, nor is it comfortable to divvy up real responsibilities with a person suffering from an unhealthy dose of entitlement.

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In the end, the ex-husband’s behavior, terrible as it is, perfectly reinforced why she was right to end the marriage. He can barely take care of his own kids, let alone his wife or the other children. An entire divorce doesn’t seem enough to make him understand the error of his ways. Hopefully, the woman got the positive reinforcement she needed from the much more helpful commenters.

Image credits: Tamba Budiarsana / pexels (not the actual photo)

Some folks wanted more details

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Many thought she was in the right

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Justin Sandberg

Justin Sandberg

Writer, BoredPanda staff

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I am a writer at Bored Panda. Despite being born in the US, I ended up spending most of my life in Europe, from Latvia, Austria, and Georgia to finally settling in Lithuania. At Bored Panda, you’ll find me covering topics ranging from the cat meme of the day to red flags in the workplace and really anything else. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, beating other people at board games, cooking, good books, and bad films.

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Justin Sandberg

Justin Sandberg

Writer, BoredPanda staff

I am a writer at Bored Panda. Despite being born in the US, I ended up spending most of my life in Europe, from Latvia, Austria, and Georgia to finally settling in Lithuania. At Bored Panda, you’ll find me covering topics ranging from the cat meme of the day to red flags in the workplace and really anything else. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, beating other people at board games, cooking, good books, and bad films.

Gabija Saveiskyte

Gabija Saveiskyte

Author, BoredPanda staff

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Hi there! I am a Visual Editor at Bored Panda. My job is to ensure that all the articles are aesthetically pleasing. I get to work with a variety of topics ranging from all the relationship drama to lots and lots of memes and, my personal favorites, funny cute cats. When I am not perfecting the images, you can find me reading with a cup of matcha latte and a cat in my lap, taking photos (of my cat), getting lost in the forest, or simply cuddling with my cat... Did I mention that I love cats?

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Gabija Saveiskyte

Gabija Saveiskyte

Author, BoredPanda staff

Hi there! I am a Visual Editor at Bored Panda. My job is to ensure that all the articles are aesthetically pleasing. I get to work with a variety of topics ranging from all the relationship drama to lots and lots of memes and, my personal favorites, funny cute cats. When I am not perfecting the images, you can find me reading with a cup of matcha latte and a cat in my lap, taking photos (of my cat), getting lost in the forest, or simply cuddling with my cat... Did I mention that I love cats?

Do you think the ex-wife should be responsible for the ex-husband's additional children?
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rdennis avatar
R Dennis
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was so ready to be YTA. I thought she wanted out of taking care of kids from BEFORE they were married. When my wife and I separated (not married at the time), I still took my stepkids to school, made dinner, did homework, and paid bills. Even if we weren't getting along, I had made promises to take care of those kids. But the kids in this story are ex post facto... she has absolutely no obligation.

de-snoekies avatar
Alexandra
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What is it with this godawful community thing? Bringing up children doesn't take a community or a village: it takes parents. They are responsible for their children, not aunts, uncles, nephews, cousings, nieces, steps or what-have-you. This guy obviously can't afford/provide for his children with someone else, so that's on him. OP is responsible for her children with him and that's it. If you can't afford it, don't have so many children!

glennschroeder avatar
Papa
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To answer your first question, I did a little research, and "It takes a village to raise a child" is apparently an old African proverb. It became more mainstream in the US when Hillary Clinton used it in her 2007 presidential campaign. (I'm just passing along information; not commenting on politics.)

Load More Replies...
rbarrattpeacock avatar
RP
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

100% with the mother on this. The sad thing is that if they were all sane adults, the half siblings could actually have a better sense of being family because it wouldn't be a big deal to do stuff together. But with the attitude of this father? Not likely

Load More Comments
rdennis avatar
R Dennis
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was so ready to be YTA. I thought she wanted out of taking care of kids from BEFORE they were married. When my wife and I separated (not married at the time), I still took my stepkids to school, made dinner, did homework, and paid bills. Even if we weren't getting along, I had made promises to take care of those kids. But the kids in this story are ex post facto... she has absolutely no obligation.

de-snoekies avatar
Alexandra
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What is it with this godawful community thing? Bringing up children doesn't take a community or a village: it takes parents. They are responsible for their children, not aunts, uncles, nephews, cousings, nieces, steps or what-have-you. This guy obviously can't afford/provide for his children with someone else, so that's on him. OP is responsible for her children with him and that's it. If you can't afford it, don't have so many children!

glennschroeder avatar
Papa
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To answer your first question, I did a little research, and "It takes a village to raise a child" is apparently an old African proverb. It became more mainstream in the US when Hillary Clinton used it in her 2007 presidential campaign. (I'm just passing along information; not commenting on politics.)

Load More Replies...
rbarrattpeacock avatar
RP
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

100% with the mother on this. The sad thing is that if they were all sane adults, the half siblings could actually have a better sense of being family because it wouldn't be a big deal to do stuff together. But with the attitude of this father? Not likely

Load More Comments
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